Sir Alec Rose’s iconic yacht Lively Lady is undergoing a major refit at the International Boatbuilding Training College in Portsmouth. The yacht, in which Rose competed in the OSTAR and completed a sol circumnavigation, is now used to take disadvantaged youngsters sailing and will be on the water again in 2016.

Sailing into the Historic Dockyard at midday, escorted by the vintage 1936 High Speed Launch (HSL 102), the yacht will then be taken by crane to the International Boatbuilding Training College for the 12-month refit.

Lively Lady will be sailed into the Historic Dockyard by ocean racer Alan Priddy, who sailed the historic vessel round the world in 2007/8 and is underwriting the extensive refurbishment programme.

Mr Priddy will be joined by Jim Brooke-Jones, the Boat Yard Manager of the International Boatbuilding Training College and Stuart McGowan from Solent Technical Solutions and Lauren Harris who runs the Children’s Charity Around and Around.

Lively Lady will sail into Portsmouth Historic Dockyard at midday on Friday 16 October 2015. At 1400 Lively Lady will be craned ashore in to the International Boatbuilding Training College.

Lively Lady was built in 1948 of paduak wood by S. J. P. Cambridge in Calcutta. The 11m (36ft) long yacht, with her distinctive pale blue hull, was made famous when Southsea greengrocer Alec Rose completed his single-handed trip around the world in 1968. Between 2006 to 2008 Alan Priddy, founder of the Around and Around charity, circumnavigated the globe aboard yacht Lively Lady. It was crewed in stages by a group of 38 disadvantaged young adults.

In 2009 Lively Lady was leased by Portsmouth City Council to Around and Around for 25 years so the charity could maintain the vessel and use her for training. In 2011 the charity announced that they would raise funds for a major refit programme and to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic voyage, they would retrace Sir Alec’s footsteps and once again sail around the world.

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